Proprietary Gene Modification Technology

Retroviral Insertional Mutagenesis (RIM)

Znomics has perfected a gene modification process called “retroviral insertional mutagenesis” (RIM), which enables the rapid identification of gene function and drug targets. Via RIM, we are able to simultaneously mutate and mark every zebrafish gene — and generate new fish lines harboring more than 25 retroviral insertions per cell; then rapidly recover the marked genes of interest.

Although DNA sequencing and microarray analyses have generated vast amounts of data on gene sequences and their expression patterns, extracting therapeutically and commercially useful information from these huge datasets has proven to be quite difficult. One important approach to determining gene function is to delete a gene from the genome (gene knock-out) and then determine the consequences of the deletion in a live animal. Our process of mutating or knocking out specific genes enables the creation or introduction of specific disorders (such as obesity) and diseases (such as diabetes) into the live animal which, in turn, allows for a much more efficient and accurate examination of potential new drugs in terms of efficacy, toxicity and fundamental pharmacokinetics related to the specific condition.